Before showing up on WWE TV during Monday Night Raw’s Netflix premiere in Los Angeles in January 2025, Nikki Bella went missing for several weeks which was unusual for a public figure like her. For the record, her personal life was featured on a TV reality show and even her wedding itself had a spin-off series. Unfortunately, those good times came to an end in August after a volatile physical situation broke out in her Napa Valley home.
Multiple instances occurred that led Nikki Bella and her former husband Artem Chigvintsev to move into the California court. However, they managed to evade a trial set to commence in December after entering a divorce settlement in November. In light of the peace treaty, it’s recently been revealed that the top WWE Star will be paying a significant amount of money to her ex-husband, as part of their finalized divorce settlement.
A fan tweeted the following with the assumption that the court must have found an abusive situation with Artem possibly being the victim as he also previously filed for a restraining order against Nikki Bella,
“Crazy that custody is with the father. Courts almost always lean towards the mother unless there is some really serious issues i.e. abuse.”
For the record, Artem was arrested in August 2023 after allegedly assaulting Nikki Bella. She later filed a restraining order, which he contested, claiming that she was the aggressor, instead. The settlement was reached in November 2024, but a judge has recently approved it.
Nikki Bella reveals ex-husband didn’t sign a pre-nup
The speculations roamed online for some time, after which Nikki Bella herself offered a clarification on the situation. Responding to the fan’s tweet, she noted that the $3,500 per month in child support that she’s paying for their son Matteo, isn’t a sign of lost custody. The former WWE Divas Champion also revealed the lump sum amount to be paid to Artem, isn’t not tied to child support but rather to the fact that the latter didn’t sign a prenup.
“I hope you all read this bc you all don’t understand the law. Child Support is about income per year. So whoever makes more and depending on how much they make a year they pay monthly. We have 50/50 custody. CA State Law,” elaborated Nikki Bella in her statement.
“And the 200k is bc he didn’t sign a prenup. So that’s alimony. Has nothing to do with anything else except divorce. You’ll need to educate yourself and stop assuming off of click hate headlines.”
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I hope you all read this bc you all don’t understand the law. Child Support is about income per year. So whoever makes more and depending on how much they make a year they pay monthly. We have 50/50 custody. CA State Law. And the 200k is bc he didn’t sign a pre nup. So that’s…
— Nikki & Brie (@NikkiAndBrie) May 17, 2025
The above statement comes in light of the disclosure of some legal documents, which stated that Nikki Bella has agreed to pay Artem $3,500 a month in child support for their son, Matteo. She is also seemingly bound to pay him $200,000 in total — $100,000 upfront and another $100,000 before the end of the year.
Nikki Bella will also cover the costs of Matteo’s speech therapy, while both parents will split the expenses for his extracurricular activities. The former WWE star will retain control of her business entities, including Stephanie Nicole Garcia Entertainment and Bonita Bonita.